Attribution theories and their applications

Attribution Theories

In general terms, attribution theories are a person's psychological response to a conflict in an effort to explain the cause of the contention. While these theories may apply to any given situation, they are often closely intertwined with more intimate, interpersonal relationships. People in such relationships may attempt to explain their own actions or the actions of the other person in terms that may mitigate their own culpability. The ability to explain why someone would act or behave in a certain way may help a person alleviate the stress associated with the conflict. There are several different types of attribution theories that people use to explain another's behavior but three of them in particular are often cited in relationship studies.

Many people in a relationship may attempt to attribute their counterpart's behavior to personal vs. situational causes. In this way, a person seems to believe that another person acted in a certain way because of his personal nature rather than the situation at hand. For instance, a woman may attribute her boyfriend's behavior to his personality quirks, rather than the situation they are confronting. A friend of mine always complained that her boyfriend was impatient and condescending towards her. Her justification for this was that, though he would never say anything directly to her, she could tell from "the look" he gave her that he was displeased. While she claimed that this was just "the way he is," she never made any attempt to attribute her own behavior to his displeasure. Perhaps he was upset with her for wanting to spend money they didn't have or because she wanted to go out with friends instead of him. In this case he may have been upset with the situation but she instead felt that he acted that way simply because of his personality.

Many people also make attributions about a person's behavior either being stable or unstable. Often during an argument, one person might become exasperated with the other and ascribe his behavior to a generally defective personality trait. If someone is forced to deal with this type of person, they feel completely absolved if they do not reach any type of agreement, since the other party is clearly unreasonable due to this fatal personality flaw. Another friend of mine claimed that her boyfriend was insanely jealous and that his constant complaints about her relationship with a male co-worker were just his own insecurity and unstable personality coming out. Regardless of the fact that he may have had a point about her behavior, she simply attributed his behavior as unstable and ignored him.

Finally, many people may make attributions based on the fact that they perceive the cause of the behavior as global, rather than specific. This can occur when one partner in the relationship believes that the other person's behavior is being influenced by outside sources, rather than caused by the specific action that is being discussed. When my friend's boyfriend told her that is they had a baby he believed she should stay home to raise the child while it was young instead of go back to work, she felt that he was being influenced by friends and family who had told him that was what their wives had done. She did not entertain the idea that he may have considered it to be the best thing for their child, she only saw it as him attacking her career goals. She believed he had been inundated with the idea that the man should provide for his family while she stayed home and raised the children and she refused to listen to his argument.